m addressing this letter to _ for adequate / amendments e Dominion Wartime Labor (2.C. 1003) and Wartime > Wartime Labor Code and ; regulations were enacted ring the National Inquiry ‘wages and labor relation- “in the spring of 1943. The es laid down fell far short at the labor movement had | for as a result of that In- and were widely protested > time. Despite their‘short- ‘@s, however, the trade Ss accepted the regulations cried earnestly to ‘develop ‘ive -bargaining relation- ‘with the employers under olicies thus established. ollowine the enactment of 1003 -some progress was but shortly after its enact- and particularly since it to appear that victory is ht in Europe, a section of mial management, led by. ainded~ anti-labor manage- jis now openly refusing to in collectively “in good | even after the unions rep- ‘ing their employees have i the onerous requirements ecured certification as the ning agencies of said ign to utilize the glaring juacies of “P°C.- 1008 is to m_in the adamant refusal merous corporations to ac- © union proposals, expres- he will of the overwhelm- ajority of workers in their for inclusion of mainten- of membership -or “union clauses “in aents. employers or thei agents ve pursuing this anti-labor fare, quite obviously, defy- "declared intent of the Do- - Wartime Labor Gode. It be emphasized, however, vey are able te defy that ‘d purpose so easily, and In effect, 1 simply lays fo be. followed if an em- and the union represent- S employees actually bar- collectively in good faith. opholes that it offers, for 1 good faith, are so obvious - is difficult for workers to which is the most to be _ their employer’s deter- om not to bargain or the of P.C 1003. which liter- Wite him to defy its sup- mtent if he is so inclined. <0 emphaside “the - pressing {| ) Control Order PC. 9984. rs. A major result of this | their™ collective | mpunity, only because of | aring inadequacy of P.C. | this Order-in- ized recently by decisions of the down the | National War Labor Board. In its | mission, xt Of Open Letter Sent Feb.19 By Ti Leader, LPP, To Prime Minister P. A. Features, March 3 — Page 15 m Buck, National Mackenzie King ceived by the overwhelming majority of the workers fell, considerably short of the in- erease in ‘the cost of living, and the prescription in Wage Contre] Order P.C. 5963 that “Wage increases may be auth- orized by the War Labor Board only if existing wage rates are found to be too low as com- Pared with wages generally prevailing in the same or sub- tantially similar occupations in a comparable area... ” There were other, equally glar- ing, causes for criticism of P.C. 5963 but the wide agree- ment upon the need to correct the twe above mentioned in- equalities embraced many in addition to the representatives - of labor. There was almost equally wide agreement upon the need to “unfreeze” wages below the level of fifty cents per hour. & The representatives of labor urged correction of those inequi- ties. Several of us emphasized, in our briefs. that elimination of Such inequities was an element- ery condition of labor confidence. Labor was, and is, willing to ac- cept the limitations imposed by Wage and other controls neces- ary te win the war and to make the maintenance of uninterrup- ted production its primary aim— but labor can do that, consist- ently, only if it is treated as a Partner in the war effort. So generally was this point of view accepted that = labor: assumed, cenfidently, that any changes made in the Wage Control Order would be changes aimed to cor- rect at least its more glaring anomalies. To the extreme disappointment |of the trade union movement, | however, the changes that were duade tended in the opposite direc- |tion. The inequalities of the cost joi living bonus were frozen by | |consolidating the existing bonus jinto the basic wage rates and it Was made even more difficult to secure upward adjustment of sub- standard wages. This fact has been emphas- decision of Dec. 12, 1944, reject- ing the appeal of 12,000 Quebec shoe workers against a decision of the Quebec Regional Board, the National Board acknowleged ‘ers determined not to bar-|that the minimum wage rates which it refused to raise “are not high rates, they are obviously quite low rates and it might very well be that the employees of this or that employer who is paying them are the victims of a ‘gross. injustice’.” In spite of that ad- the National Board re- situation with respect to | jected the workers’ appeal and di- is even worse than with ; to collective bargaining. is urgent need for drastic a of Dominion Wartime Control Order P.C. 9884. mg the national inquiry ‘ed-te aboye, briefs sub- 1 by. ‘proved conclusively that ‘age and cost of living ’ policy then in effect equitable. Outstandins ¥ its several] inequitable “€S were the facets that ost-of-living bonus fe- representatives of , rected attention to its decision in the case of the Canada Starch Co. of November 28, 1944. That | 4 i { decision contains the following |amazing interpretation of the funetion of the War Labor Boards. : “The Regional Board here appeared to have “proceeded upon the basis of what it } | | | | i thought to be fair and reason- able rates. But we must say that war labor boards under the government order in council are not fair wage boards or mini- mum wage boards, they are Wage stabilization boards set up to administer a set of specific rules... .” Thus; in November the Na- tional Board’ rescinded a decision ef the Ontario Regional Board which had authorized minimum wage rates of 54¢ per hour for men.and 42c¢ per hour for wo- men. In December it upheld the decision of the Quebec Board re- fusing to authorize an inerease to Quebec shoe workers in spité of the fact that it admitted a “SY0Oss injustice.” Hach of those, and other similar decisions, are justified on the ground that the Boards are not- fair Wage, or minimum wage boards, but sta- bilization boards and, further- more, the National Board makes it clear that by “stabilization? it means freezing. With all due respect, Mr. Prime Minister, I ask you: “What recourse have the working peo- ple and their unions in this sit- uation?” They are being block- ed in their efforts to correct “gross injustice or gross in- equalities” in wage rates, by the limitations placed upon the func- tion of the War Labor Boards. Their efforts to secure the full benefits of collective bargain- ing and union security are being: , blocked because P.C. 1008 is in- | adequate to compel anti-labor | employers to “bargain collect- ively.” Can it be said that this corresponds with labor’s loyal observance of its . no -strike pledge? Is it to be wondered that sections of the working peo- ple wonder whether the Dominion i - . government 1s desirous of treat- ing labor as a partner in the natien’s war effort? By and large the trade union movement is desirous of main- taining industrial peace and un- interrupted producton to win the war. Until now the overwhelm- ing majority of trade unionists have rejected the irresponsible adventurist propaganda of those who seek political advantage by advocating strike action. At the Same time, it must be empha- sized, the trade union movement quite properly insists upon se- curing collective bargaining vights and union security in A measure commensurate with the [contribution that labor ipe to national unity national war effort, must correct gross and gross inequalities and our and labor injustices in wage is mak_| rates where such exist. | In the name of the Labor- | Progressive Party and the tens | of thousands of trade union- | ists who look to my party as the most consistent champion ef national unity and protec- tion of the real interests and imalienable rights of the work- ing people and the labor move- ment, I urge you, Mr. Prime Minister, to take action im- mediately to amend P.G. 1003: and to reyise the Dominion wage control policy. Amend the Labor Code so that no single loophole remains which enables unscrupulous tery- minded employers to refuse te conclude a collective agree- ment with the chosen bargain- ing agency of his employees, and to grant union security conditions when his employees desire it. Revise the wage con- tro] regulations so as to per- mit, aye facilitate, correction of “gross injustice”? and in- equalities in wages. The trade union movement has given un- stinting cooperation _to the government in the effort to win the war. Make the legisla- tive changes that are needed now and you will help make labor a powerful buttress of coming problems of peace. Yours sincerely, TIM BUCK, National TLeader, Labor-Progressive Party TEHERAN Co) HOMO ne CI INS) pecial Anniversary Offer _ FREE With every new or renewal subscription to National Affairs Monthly Ou receive FREE a copy of on of the following books: by Earl Browder. ARCTIC ELDORADO by R. A. Davies. BRITAIN IN THE WORLD FRONT by Palme Dutt. 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